


Even Then

by HerbertBest



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Bittersweet, Family Feels, Feels, Love, Multi, Polyfidelity, Returning Home, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:46:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: Dan, Holly and Suzy come back from a long tour.  Dan's a little guilty that he left his daughter behind for two weeks, Holly just wants to rest, and Wren just wants to be held.





	Even Then

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheseusInTheMaze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheseusInTheMaze/gifts).



> This is part of Theseusinthemaze's Plausible Deniability universe. Collection forthcoming!

“Gimmie the baby.”

Barry blinked as Dan seized Wren from his open arms. “So did the tour go well?” The high-pitched sounds of Wren babbling about her abba filled the air.

Holly came in directly behind Dan, squirming around his tall form to put the suitcase down. Suzy and Ross were right behind her. “You didn’t hear about it?”

“Well,” Barry admitted, shoving a hand into his pocket, “I was hoping it wasn’t true.”

“I don’t think hundreds of people would lie about Dan getting hit in the dick with a beer bottle,” Suzy said. Her cheerful tone made Dan grumble and shove his face into the baby’s hair. 

“It was a long, bad trip,” Holly admitted. Ross grabbed the suitcases from Suzy and started shuffling them upstairs, mumbling something about deliberately using all of the hot water.

“I’m sorry,” Barry said. “The birds are doing okay, if that helps- I fed Pancake his worms and the cats got their exercise. And Wren was good,” he added. “She wasn’t fussy at all.”

“Thank you,” Holly said. 

“I had a good time,” Dan said, almost sounding like his cheerful self again. Wren plunged one of her fingers into his mouth and he gently moved it, pecking her cheek. Then he walked her over to the sofa and sat down with the baby on his lap.

“Really? Was it fun throwing up bad sushi on the side of the road in Omaha?” Holly settled down beside him, and Barry and Suzy settled around them.

“No, but I learned not to eat fish in a landlocked country,” Dan said.

“Dan…” she sighed. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to try to put a positive face on everything, but Suzy was giving Holly a Look, to her surprise, while Barry tried to meld with the wallpaper as he waited for Ross to appear.

“That was one minute in a two week tour,” Dan said. But he was clinging to Wren. “Do you think she grew a little while I was away?”

“Maybe?” Holly said. She enjoyed the sight of them together. Wren had always favored him, though she fancied she saw flecks of herself in her daughter’s sweet gaze. Her hair had gotten thick and curly, and it was growing long enough to make her look like a redheaded lamb.

“Do you think I’m a bad dad for leaving her behind?” he wondered.

“No. Brian’s not a bad dad for leaving Audrey with Rachel, is he?”

“No,” Dan said immediately. He startled when Ross came down in clean clothing, grabbing Barry and taking him off on a date. Wren made a fussy noise, pouting and reaching for her mother. Dan grumbled, reluctantly surrendering the girl to Holly.

Now he was watching them with that warm-eyed fondness that never failed to make Holly smile.  


Suzy came around the back of the sofa, pecked Holly on the top of her head and asked if she wanted tea. They all did. And Holly knew Suzy would make it perfect with just enough honey – there was no one to argue with, no waiter to argue with or confusion to be had. The peacefulness of the moment settled in around her, thick and sweet. Wren fussed for her own lunch, and without much thought, Holly pulled up her sweater and pulled up the cup of her bra.

She’d almost been hypnotized by the lull in the action when Dan spoke up. “Holly?”

“Mmm?”

“Promise me that if all of this ends tomorrow and I wake up a mid-level jerk in advertising you’ll still love me?”

She looked up, somewhat surprised by the declaration. She realized with a sudden shock how much he seemed to need her approval. “I promise I’ll always love you,” she said. “I’ll love you if we lose all of our money. I’ll love you if we have to move back in with your parents or into a car. I’d love you if your hair fell out or you couldn’t sing. I’ll always love you.” 

The words he’d spoken to her months ago, when she was pregnant with Wren, echoed back up to her. She meant every single one of them. God help her, she did. And as many times as he’d been emotionally naked with her this was the first time she' d ever been this honest with him.

“Oh, I love you,” Dan said softly. “I’ll always love you, Holly.” He buried his stubbly face against her neck. She could feel the staccato rhythm of his breathing, as if he were trying to hold back tears. It had taken a lot out of him to do the dates they’d managed, and she respected and loved him for keeping it together for so long. He was coming down, just as she was, from the high of the road, into the comfortable normalcy of their real lives.

Lives that were more important to her than anything the glitz of fame could offer.


End file.
